Posts tagged as:

serena

Can’t Sleep Without A Princess

March 5, 2010

Serena’s been a bit of a bedtime rebel lately. She’s mostly sleeping through the night, waking up only briefly to pee and get a glass of water around 2 a.m.
But she just not falling asleep at bedtime. She goes through the whole bath-book-bed routine with her dad and sister. Rio drops off to sleep like [...]

Tagged as: ariel, barbie, bedtime, belle, childhood, disney princess, distracted, dolls, fall asleep, princess belle, princesses, serena, sleep, sleeping, sweet girls

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Why I Quit Everything

March 2, 2010

Last September, when my five-year-old started kindergarten, she also went to swimming lessons twice a week, gymnastics class once  a week, music class on Saturday mornings, and a weekly play group at the community growing center.
My toddler had a lighter schedule, comprised of only swim lessons and a weekly playdate at the library. I had [...]

Tagged as: family, free-range parenting, frugality, gymnastics class, kids, kids love, kids running, parenting, playdates, quits, rio, serena, simple living, slow parenting, swim classes, swim lessons

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This Will Help

February 26, 2010

Remember that awful feeling of pressure in your eardrums going up or coming down in a plane as a kid?
On our trip home the other day, Rio described it as being “like knives in my ears”. I suddenly had this intense sense memory of that exact feeling. Awful. Maybe my least favorite part of air [...]

Tagged as: air travel, airplanes, biology, chew, chewing gum, confectionery, ear, ear hurt, eardrum, funny, hurt, kids, mama, pop, serena, toddlers

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Hide and Seek

February 11, 2010

The girls are playing hide-n-seek in my bedroom. They are taking turns beautifully. This is how their game works:
Rio: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25, 26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50, 51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75, 76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89…uh…um…Mama, what comes after 89?
Me: 90.
Rio: Oh! yeah, 90. Well, sometimes I need to think for a long time about what number comes next and then I remember but then I get confused [...]

Tagged as: family, parenting, play, rio, serena

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Words, words, words

January 31, 2010

Serena: Don’t bite mine shoulder.
Me: I didn’t bite your shoulder. (true fax. My teeth, her shoulder, they were nowhere near each other)
Serena: You no bite my shoulder? You just nibble me, actually?
Me: uh, no
Serena: I like it you nibble me on my shoulder. Nibble my shoulder!

Tagged as: serena

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Well, hello there English Language!

January 26, 2010

Last time Serena saw a dog, a few weeks ago, she said, “Mama! Dog! Woof-woof!”
Today, as we were getting out of the car, two dogs fenced into a nearby yard came running up and barked at us. Serena stopped and stared. She took a few steps towards the dogs, who were waiting eagerly at the [...]

Tagged as: parenting, serena

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A Possibly Perfect Saturday

January 23, 2010

It’s been a pretty chaotic week, with everyone finally (!) settling back into normal routines after all the holiday madness. Last night I went to bed staggeringly tired and emotionally burned out, wondering how this whole “life” thing was ever supposed to work.
It was supposed to work like today. The kids slept beautifully through the [...]

Tagged as: family, parenting, serena

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Baby’s First Knock-Knock Joke

January 22, 2010

Serena: Whooooooo’s there?
The Person She Is Talking To: ignores her.
Serena: You say, “knock, knock”
Her Interlocutor: Oh! Ok. Knock, knock.
Serena: Whooooooo’s there?
Her Interlocutor: the Doctor
Serena: OK! Come on in!

Tagged as: funny, serena

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Playing Princesses

January 7, 2010

Serena: MOMMY! PLAY WITH ME! (grabs hold of my legs and drags me with all her tiny might toward a playmat covered with little plastic princess figurines)
Me: OK.
Serena: Me Beauty. You Snow White.
Me: Ok.
I take the doll she hands me. My doll walks around the playmat a little, exploring the castle and the pretty woods [...]

Tagged as: parenting, princesses, rio, serena

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Serena vs. Nori

December 29, 2009

In the further adventures of Serena and food: we went to a friend’s house this evening where they were making sushi. We offered her some and she complained that it was stinky in her nose and turned her face away. She pretended to be shy, and demanded to be taken into another room and read [...]

Tagged as: food, serena

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